A 7575: Authorizes the commissioner of education to appoint a monitor to oversee the Mount Vernon city school district; establishes the powers and duties of such monitor.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7575 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY April 1, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Education AN ACT authorizing the commissioner of education to appoint a monitor to oversee the Mount Vernon city school district and establishing the powers and duties of such monitor; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. 1. Definitions. As used in this act: 2 (a) "Commissioner" shall mean the commissioner of education; 3 (b) "Department" shall mean the state education department; 4 (c) "Board of education" or "board" shall mean the board of education 5 of the Mount Vernon city school district; 6 (d) "School district" or "district" shall mean the Mount Vernon city 7 school district; 8 (e) "Superintendent" shall mean the superintendent of the Mount Vernon 9 city school district; and 10 (f) "Relatives" shall mean a Mount Vernon city school district board 11 member's spouse, domestic partner, child, stepchild, stepparent, or any 12 person who is a direct descendant of the grandparents of a current board 13 member or a board member's spouse or domestic partner. 14 2. Appointment of a monitor. The commissioner shall appoint one moni- 15 tor to provide oversight, guidance and technical assistance related to 16 the educational and fiscal policies, practices, programs and decisions 17 of the school district, the board of education and the superintendent. 18 (a) The monitor, to the extent practicable, shall have experience in 19 school district finances and one or more of the following areas: 20 (i) elementary and secondary education; 21 (ii) the operation of school districts in New York; 22 (iii) educating students with disabilities; and 23 (iv) educating English language learners. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10917-01-5 
 A. 7575 2 1 (b) The monitor shall be a non-voting ex-officio member of the board 2 of education. The monitor shall be an individual who is not a resident, 3 employee of the school district or relative of a board member of the 4 school district at the time of their appointment. 5 (c) The reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by the monitor 6 while performing their official duties which are not otherwise provided 7 for by the state shall be paid by the school district. The state of New 8 York shall annually appropriate one hundred and seventy-five thousand 9 dollars ($175,000) to the Mount Vernon city school district to support 10 costs associated with such expenses. Notwithstanding any other provision 11 of law, the monitor shall be entitled to defense and indemnification by 12 the school district to the same extent as a school district employee. 13 3. Meetings. (a) The monitor shall be entitled to attend all meetings 14 of the board, including executive sessions; provided however, such moni- 15 tor shall not be considered for purposes of establishing a quorum of the 16 board. The school district shall fully cooperate with the monitor 17 including, but not limited to, providing such monitor with access to any 18 necessary documents and records of the district including access to 19 electronic information systems, databases and planning documents, 20 consistent with all applicable state and federal statutes including, but 21 not limited to, Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 22 U.S.C. § 1232g) and section 2-d of the education law. 23 (b) The board, in consultation with the monitor, shall adopt a 24 conflict of interest policy that complies with all existing applicable 25 laws, rules and regulations that ensures its board members and adminis- 26 tration act in the school district's best interest and comply with 27 applicable legal requirements. The conflict of interest policy shall 28 include, but not be limited to: 29 (i) a definition of the circumstances that constitute a conflict of 30 interest; 31 (ii) procedures for disclosing a conflict of interest to the board; 32 (iii) a requirement that the person with the conflict of interest not 33 be present at or participate in board deliberations or votes on the 34 matter giving rise to such conflict, provided that nothing in this 35 subdivision shall prohibit the board from requesting that the person 36 with the conflict of interest present information as background or 37 answer questions at a board meeting prior to the commencement of delib- 38 erations or voting relating thereto; 39 (iv) a prohibition against any attempt by the person with the conflict 40 to influence improperly the deliberation or voting on the matter giving 41 rise to such conflict; and 42 (v) a requirement that the existence and resolution of the conflict be 43 documented in the board's records, including in the minutes of any meet- 44 ing at which the conflict was discussed or voted upon. 45 4. Public hearings. (a) The monitor shall schedule three public hear- 46 ings to be held within sixty days of their appointment, which shall 47 allow public comment from the district's residents, students, parents, 48 employees, board members and administration. 49 (i) The first hearing shall take public comment on existing statutory 50 and regulatory authority of the commissioner, the department and the 51 board of regents regarding school district governance and intervention 52 under applicable state law and regulations, including but not limited 53 to, sections 306, 211-c, and 211-f of the education law. 54 (ii) The second hearing shall take public comment on the academic 55 performance of the district. 
 A. 7575 3 1 (iii) The third hearing shall take public comment on the fiscal 2 performance of the district. 3 (b) The board of education and the monitor shall consider these public 4 comments when developing the financial plan and academic improvement 5 plan under this act. 6 5. Financial plan. (a) No later than November first, two thousand 7 twenty-five, the board of education and the monitor shall develop a 8 proposed financial plan for the two thousand twenty-five--two thousand 9 twenty-six school year and the four subsequent school years. The finan- 10 cial plan shall ensure that annual aggregate operating expenses shall 11 not exceed annual aggregate operating revenues for such school year and 12 that the major operating funds of the district be balanced in accordance 13 with generally accepted accounting principles. The financial plan shall 14 include statements of all estimated revenues, expenditures, and cash 15 flow projections of the district. 16 (b) If the board of education and the monitor agree on all the 17 elements of the proposed financial plan, the board of education shall 18 conduct a public hearing on the plan and consider the input of the 19 community. The proposed financial plan shall be made public on the 20 district's website at least three business days before such public hear- 21 ing. Once the proposed financial plan has been approved by the board of 22 education, such plan shall be submitted by the monitor to the commis- 23 sioner for approval and shall be deemed approved for the purposes of 24 this act. 25 (c) If the board of education and the monitor do not agree on all the 26 elements of the proposed financial plan, the board of education shall 27 conduct a public hearing on the proposed plan that details the elements 28 of disagreement between the monitor and the board, including documented 29 justification for such disagreements and any requested amendments from 30 the monitor. The proposed financial plan, elements of disagreement, and 31 requested amendments shall be made public on the district's website at 32 least three business days before such public hearing. After considering 33 the input of the community, the board may alter the proposed financial 34 plan and the monitor may alter their requested amendments, and the moni- 35 tor shall submit the proposed financial plan, their amendments to the 36 plan, and documentation providing justification for such disagreements 37 and amendments to the commissioner no later than December first, two 38 thousand twenty-five. By January fifteenth, two thousand twenty-six, the 39 commissioner shall approve the proposed plan with any of the monitor's 40 proposed amendments, or make other modifications, such commissioner 41 deems appropriate. The board of education shall provide the commissioner 42 with any information such commissioner requests to approve such plan 43 within three business days of such request. Upon the approval of the 44 commissioner, the financial plan shall be deemed approved for purposes 45 of this act. 46 6. Academic improvement plan. (a) No later than November first, two 47 thousand twenty-five, the board of education and the monitor shall 48 develop an academic improvement plan for the district's two thousand 49 twenty-five--two thousand twenty-six school year and the four subsequent 50 school years. The academic improvement plan shall contain a series of 51 programmatic recommendations designed to improve academic performance 52 over the period of the plan in those academic areas that the commission- 53 er deems to be in need of improvement which shall include addressing the 54 provisions contained in any action plan set forth by the department. 55 (b) If the board of education and the monitor agree on all the 56 elements of the proposed academic improvement plan, the board of educa- 
 A. 7575 4 1 tion shall conduct a public hearing on the plan and consider the input 2 of the community. The proposed academic improvement plan shall be made 3 public on the district's website at least three business days before 4 such public hearing. Once the proposed academic improvement plan has 5 been approved by the board of education, such plan shall be submitted by 6 the monitor to the commissioner for approval and shall be deemed 7 approved for the purposes of this act. 8 (c) If the board of education and the monitor do not agree on all the 9 elements of the proposed academic improvement plan, the board of educa- 10 tion shall conduct a public hearing on the proposed plan that details 11 the elements of disagreement between the monitor and the board, includ- 12 ing documented justification for such disagreements and any requested 13 amendments from the monitor. The proposed academic improvement plan, 14 elements of disagreement, and requested amendments shall be made public 15 on the district's website at least three business days before such 16 public hearing. After considering the input of the community, the board 17 may alter the proposed academic improvement plan and the monitor may 18 alter their requested amendments, and the monitor shall submit the 19 proposed academic improvement plan, their amendments to the plan, and 20 documentation providing justification for such disagreements and amend- 21 ments to the commissioner no later than December first, two thousand 22 twenty-five. By January fifteenth, two thousand twenty-six, the commis- 23 sioner shall approve the proposed plan with any of the monitor's 24 proposed amendments, or make other modifications, such commissioner 25 deems appropriate. The board of education shall provide the commissioner 26 with any information such commissioner requests to approve such plan 27 within three business days of such request. Upon the approval of the 28 commissioner, the academic improvement plan shall be deemed approved for 29 purposes of this act. 30 7. Fiscal and operational oversight. (a) The board of education shall 31 annually submit the school district's proposed budget for the next 32 succeeding school year to the monitor no later than March first prior to 33 the school district's annual budget vote. The monitor shall review the 34 proposed budget to ensure that it is balanced within the context of 35 revenue and expenditure estimates and mandated programs. The monitor 36 shall also review the proposed budget to ensure that it, to the greatest 37 extent possible, is consistent with the district academic improvement 38 plan and financial plan developed and approved pursuant to this act. 39 The monitor shall present their findings to the board of education and 40 the commissioner no later than forty-five days prior to the date sched- 41 uled for the school district's annual budget vote. The commissioner 42 shall require the board of education to make amendments to the proposed 43 budget consistent with any recommendations made by the monitor if the 44 commissioner determines such amendments are necessary to comply with the 45 financial plan and academic improvement plan under this act. The school 46 district shall make available on the district's website: the initial 47 proposed budget, the monitor's findings, and the final proposed budget 48 at least seven days prior to the date of the school district's budget 49 hearing. In the event of a revote, the board of education, in conjunc- 50 tion with the monitor, shall develop and submit the school district's 51 proposed budget for the next succeeding school year to the commissioner 52 no later than seven days prior to the budget hearing. The board of 53 education shall provide the commissioner with any information such 54 commissioner requests in order to make a determination pursuant to this 55 subdivision within three business days of such request. 
 A. 7575 5 1 (b) The district shall provide quarterly reports to the monitor and 2 annual reports to the commissioner and board of regents on the academic, 3 fiscal, and operational status of the school district. In addition, the 4 monitor shall provide semi-annual reports to the commissioner, board of 5 regents, the governor, the temporary president of the senate, and the 6 speaker of the assembly on the academic, fiscal, and operational status 7 of the school district. Such semi-annual report shall include all the 8 contracts that the district entered into throughout the year. 9 (c) The monitor shall have the authority to disapprove travel outside 10 the state paid for by the district. 11 (d) The monitor shall work with the district's shared decision-making 12 committee as defined in 8 NYCRR 100.11 in developing the academic 13 improvement plan, financial plan, district goals, implementation of 14 district priorities and budgetary recommendations. 15 (e) The monitor shall assist in resolving any disputes and conflicts, 16 including but not limited to, those between the superintendent and the 17 board of education and among the members of the board of education. 18 (f) The monitor may recommend, and the board shall consider by vote of 19 a resolution at the next scheduled meeting of the board, cost saving 20 measures including, but not limited to, shared service agreements. 21 8. The commissioner may overrule any decision of the monitor, except 22 for collective bargaining agreements negotiated in accordance with arti- 23 cle 14 of the civil service law, if such commissioner deems that such 24 decision is not aligned with the financial plan, academic improvement 25 plan, or the school district's budget. 26 9. The monitor may notify the commissioner and the board in writing 27 when such monitor deems the district is violating an element of the 28 financial plan or academic improvement plan in this act. Within twenty 29 days, the commissioner shall determine whether the district is in 30 violation of any of the elements of the plans highlighted by the monitor 31 and shall order the district to comply immediately with the plans and 32 remedy any such violation. The school district shall suspend all actions 33 related to the potential violation of the financial plan or academic 34 improvement plan until the commissioner issues a determination. 35 10. Nothing in this act shall be construed to abrogate the duties and 36 responsibilities of the school district consistent with applicable state 37 law and regulations. 38 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however that 39 this act shall expire and be deemed repealed June 30, 2030.